Nazi Transit Camps:
Breendonck

The fort of Breendonck is located along the old highway Brussels - Anvers [Antwerpen]. It is perhaps the only camp which remains totally
intact. Breendonck was first a military fort and the buildings are built
using reinforced concrete. For the German occupation administration,
Breendonck was a "waiting" camp (Auffangslager) designed to
receive Jews and political prisoners before their transfer to Germany.
The first prisoners arrived on December 20th, 1940 . At this time, the
guards were members of the Wehrmacht. In the beginning, the conditions
of life were very difficult but not so hard as in the German concentration
camps. But after the German troops invaded Russia (June 1941), the guards
were replaced by German and Belgian SS and the atrocities became exactly the same as in any other Nazi camp.
The lack of food became so severe that several prisoners tried to eat
grass. Executions by hanging or shooting were common. The cruelest Belgian
SS guards were Wijss, De Bodt and Pelleman.

The gallows at Breendonck

The prisoners had to live in bunkers
built of concrete. These bunkers were very cold and damp and the
Nazis provided only two simple chamber pot for twenty prisoners. In
1940 and at the beginning of 1941, it was "forbidden" to be ill.

The number of prisoners
varied from between 30 and 600. Breendonck was small, compared to
other camps, but the miserable conditions and the barbaric atrocities
were exactly the same as in other Nazi camps. Tortures, hangings and
shootings were common in Breendonck. The exact number of victims of
Breendonck is unknown but latest researches proves that there were at
least 3,000 deaths..

Breendonck had been evacuated first
on May 6, 1944, and all the prisoners transferred to Germany. Later,
more Belgium citizens were imprisoned in Breendonck. The camp was
finally closed on August 30, 1944, and all the prisoners transferred
to Vught in Holland and later to
Germany. The Allied troops arrived to Breendonck on September 3,
1944. The camp was empty.

The fort of Breendonck was
transformed in National Memorial in 1947. It is located not far from
the center of Willebroek, a small town 15,5 miles from Brussels.
Opening hours are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. from April 1st to September 30th and
10 a.m. to 5 p.m. from October 1st to March 31th. The entrance fee is 75
Fb (+- 2 US $). The museum is closed from December 25th to January
1st. (mailing address: Mémorial National du Fort de
Breendonck, B 2830, Willebroek, Tel.: 32-3-886 6209).